Michigan State Police are continuing to investigate the shooting death of 26-year-old Patrick Lyoya by a Grand Rapids police officer. Attorney General Dana Nessel says her office would take over deciding if the officer should be charged if they are asked by Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker.
“At the department of Attorney General, its not that we have more resources, which we do, we have more prosecutors, we have a lot of expertise, we have our own special agents, but we don’t have the relationships where we work one-on-one with local police officers,” says Nessel. “From the standpoint of the public, I think it just looks terrible when you have a prosecutor who has some sort of direct contact and relationship with the police officer.”
Becker, however, says he intends to handle the case even though he knows there is national scrutiny on the situation. He says he does not know the officer, who has not yet been identified.
